New Coffee Catalog Seeks Buzz

The Caffeination, a new catalog of micro-roasted coffees, wants to build buzz by giving you a buzz.

Instead of targeting consumers at home, however, founders Kris Perlberg and Andrew Billman -- who have direct marketing experience -- mailed the catalog to businesses. They think good coffee boosts employee morale and makes a good impression on clients. Brewing it in the office also saves the time employees would spend waiting on line at a coffee shop.

"The concept for the company started with a simple premise," Billman said. "Regardless of where someone works, wouldn't it be great to easily get fresh, micro-roasted coffee from a top-tier roaster in, say, Vermont or Seattle?"

The first issue of The Caffeination mailed March 15 to 5,000 names. A second mailing of 25,000 catalogs is planned for delivery this month. The company launched an e-commerce site last month, thecaffeination.com.

The target audience is professional offices of 20 employees or fewer, including law offices, accounting offices and ad agencies.

The eight-page catalog features coffee and tea from five micro-roasters: Vermont Artisan Coffee & Tea, Waterbury, VT; EVP Coffee, Madison, WI; ink! Coffee, Aspen, CO; The Mill, Lincoln, NE; and Caffe D'Arte, Seattle. Also offered are Krups coffee-brewing machines, air pots for keeping coffee warm and coffee filters. A one-pound bag of coffee costs $11.95, a three-pound bag $34 and a Krups Duothek coffee maker is priced at $188. The minimum order is three pounds.

The coffee is priced on par with Starbucks while the Krups items have a lower price tag than can be found at many retailers, Billman said.

The catalog informs readers that all orders are custom-roasted to ensure quality and shipments are sent weekly.

Chantal Todé covers catalog and retail news and BTB marketing for DM News and DM News.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters